CHICAGO AREA GAY AND LESBIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: Statement of Solidarity with Chicago’s LGBT Community Fund

Chicago Area Gay And Lesbian Chamber Of Commerce issued the following announcement on Feb. 5.

The LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois (LGBTCC) is both saddened and alarmed by the report last week that Chicago’s LGBT Community Fund, a division of The Chicago Community Trust, was refused service by Yorke Printe Shoppe in Lombard, Ill on the basis of religious conviction. The fund works toward the vision of a region where Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender residents live responsibly in harmony with all communities, enjoying the same freedoms and quality of life, and with the same opportunity to make the region a better and safer place for all to live. We recognize that discrimination against one agency is discrimination against the LGBT community as a whole and that we cannot remain silent in the face of opposition and bigotry in our state.

Therefore, as the leading voice for LGBT business owners in Illinois, we stand in solidarity with the LGBT Community Fund and fully support their decision in filing a complaint with the Illinois Department of Human Rights. While the Religious Freedom Restoration Act is still law in Illinois, the state specifically bans discrimination based on sexual orientation.

According to a 2016 report by the NGLCC - The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), LGBT-owned businesses add $1.7 trillion to the economy. The LGBT Chamber of Illinois is a network of nearly 300 LGBT-owned and inclusive businesses, nonprofits, and corporations. More than 40 of its members are certified by the NGLCC as LGBTBEs, businesses that are more than 51% owned, managed, and controlled by LGBT individuals.

We urge businesses at every level to look closely at internal non-discrimination policies and to audit your supply chains to ensure you are only doing business with vendors whose own policies protect against discrimination. For more information, you can visit us online at www.lgbtcc.com.